Princely Tomfoolery
by Aiskuriimuneko
Summary: Medieval AU shenanigans. Mostly just Chase trying to charm his way out of trouble, but what else is new.


**hey ho its a royal medieval au of some sort and i have no idea what im doing**

 **im just gonna post a few of these between random intervals, dont mind me**

 **warning: im shit at world building**

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Prince Chase' booming laughter was heard everywhere as he was hurriedly escorted to his royal bedchamber by his friend, Lady Jinja. The mirth was apparent in the way his shoulders trembled ever so slightly and in the way he fails to stifle his voice, even as Jinja was quick to close the doors. The way she turned and _glared_ at him in less than a second would often be enough to sufficiently silence him but Chase found that he didn't care much at the moment.

"Have you gone _mad?_ " Jinja said, seemingly seething with anger. Her hands came to rest on her hips as she seized the prince with a deadly look, however he easily accepted it, laughing to himself as he did.

"Oh, come now, it was all in good fun," Chase dropped himself on his large bed, bouncing on the mattress energetically. "Everyone seemed to enjoy it!"

"Everyone but the Queen herself!" Jinja emphasized before sighing dejectedly. She shook her head. "Honestly, Chase, I enjoy a good laugh as much as the next gal, but even I know when to call quits before it's too much. The Queen was _furious,_ Chase, she _grounded_ you _._ Aren't you just a little bit worried?"

"You don't know Mother like I do, Jinja," Chase said dismissively, leaning backwards on his pillows with a smile. "She'll soon see it was nothing more than harmless jest on my part. We may even laugh about it by dinner time."

Jinja was silent for a moment, wearing an incredulous expression on her face before she turned on her heel, already by the door with three quick steps. As her hand lingered on the knob, she turned her head back to Chase, eyes narrowed. "If you say so, _your Highness_."

Chuckling a little to himself, Chase went to lie on his back on the large bed, fingers brushing against the fine silken sheets. He came to stare at the decorated ceiling for quite some time, his cheerfulness slowly seeping out of him the longer he rested on his bed. Perhaps Jinja was on to something; one had so very little to attend to when restrained to the confinements of their room. Even if his royal status aided him in having the finest accommodations this kingdom could offer. Chase rolled on stomach, head resting lazily upon his arms, his legs darting to and fro. In hindsight, it mightn't have hurt to have thought that idea through. How was Chase to know the Duke and his wife would be visiting today? He had only meant to hit Jonathan Ace with the water hose, not a _noble couple_. Although he may have pushed it with the bout of unstoppable laughter that came to follow not only from him, but from the entire staff as well. But Mother was nothing if not forgiving. She wouldn't keep him confined in here for long, would she?

A few hours passed, and Chase despairingly thought that yes, she _would_ keep him in here that long. Albeit being granted permission to eat downstairs with his mother, it was a rather quiet affair. There was very little chatter exchanged between the two of them and although it was safe to assume that she was still mad at Chase, he couldn't deal with this silence and had the cook send dessert up to his room. Fine. If she wasn't going to talk to him, eating in the dining room or upstairs in his own room wouldn't make any difference in terms of conversation.

A couple of minutes later, there was a servant at his door, bringing him a tray with dessert. Sitting at the balcony outside his room, he sent a dismissive wave her way and told her to leave it on his bedside. His mother's silent treatment had left him in quite the sour mood, so Chase figured watching merchants and peasants bustle about below the castle might prove interesting. The weather was nice, a clear sky with just the right amount of heat. Sadly that just served to further remind the prince of how loathsome his confinement truly was. He hated it when Jinja's predictions came true, and he'd likely hear a well-deserved _I told you so_ in the near future. Great.

With his cheek cupped by the palm of his hand, he let his eyes lazily wander until he spotted a knight and his squire by the lower floor section of the castle. The knight pointed to many different directions whilst speaking to his squire, the latter of whom nodded eagerly to his master in response. After a while, the knight left Chase' vision down below, leaving the squire to give a small bow and turn his attention to the market. Even from a floor above, Chase could easily see how upright his posture was. Chase snorted in spite of himself and whistled loud enough for the squire to hear him.

He turned to look up at the prince on the balcony, confused. Chase waved at the boy from above, leaning forward against the hard hand-railing with smile.

"Yoo-hoo, _Sir Knight_."

The boy quickly bowed again, realizing he was being addressed by royalty. "Your Highness!"

Upon raising his head, Chase could now see the boy's face clearly as he was looking up at him. The squire appeared to be no older than himself, sporting a simple set of armor in the colors of black, yellow and white. Squires usually donned the colors associated with the knight they served, but Chase couldn't seem to remember which knight in particular this would be. They were never very talkative, hence Chase getting scolded for 'bothering them' by Jonathan Ace. The squire's red hair was well-kept, and he had a sharp but handsome face. Nice.

"When will your master return, good sir?" Chase called down to him. The boy didn't respond immediately, seemingly staring at the prince which almost lead Chase to believe he hadn't heard him until he mustered; "In an hour or so."

Chase held up a finger, gesturing for the squire not to leave and returned to his room so as to grab the tray the servant had left on his bedside. He went to the balcony and rounded the simple stone stairway integrated into the wall structure, descending all the way down to the open lookout post on the floor below where the squire was watching him keenly. Chase showed him the tray he brought from upstairs with a triumphant smile.

"Care to join me for dessert?"

The boy's face reddened before he attempted to school his features and straighten his back. "Are you…certain that's alright for me to do?" he said with uncertainty, eyes darting from Chase to the market. "My master ordered me to keep a lookout while he was tending to other matters."

"Splendid! May I keep you company while you do so?"

"But of course, your Highness," the boy blinked. "You are the crown prince. You may do whatever you desire."

"Huh," Chase murmured to himself, sitting on a slab of stone and removing the lid off the serving tray. "Tell that to my mother." A delicious scent of chocolate wafted from within the circular tray, revealing an assortment of puff pastries, tarts and other such baked goods. Chase' sweet tooth was quite a known fact among the kitchen staff. He popped a small piece of chocolate into his mouth before patting the available space next to him.

"Come, now, I don't bite. Say, what's your name?"

Hesitantly, the boy eyed Chase' outstretched hand with caution and the latter was suddenly reminded of a picnic a few years ago in which Chase spotted a young deer and tried to encourage it to approach him with some toasted bread. A snort was threatening its way out of the prince' mouth but he was determined not to make it seem like he was laughing at the boy. Chase figured he had offended enough people with his misunderstood sense of humor for one day.

"Alpha," he said. "My peers know me as Alpha."

He sat on the offered space, a modest distance away from the prince. Chase decided he didn't mind as his legs began to swing on their own. A force of habit.

"Say, what's it like being a squire?" he asked Alpha suddenly, reaching for a piece of strawberry that was coated with white chocolate. Chase put down the tray between them both, gesturing to it as Alpha collected his words carefully. He politely declined, looking uncertain.

"It's mostly tending to steeds and sword training. You know what squire training entails, your Highness."

"Yeah, but I don't know _what it's like_ ," Chase emphasized with a little roll of his eyes. His voice took on a slightly dreamy quality as he spoke. "Isn't it exciting to follow your master on quests and battles? Isn't every day a new adventure for you?"

Alpha looked away, shoulders rising in a lame shrug. "Not always. It's much more work than most people give us credit for, and battles are anything but exciting if one is unprepared."

Chase' smile dropped somewhat and he averted his eyes as well. "Oh. My apologies." It seemed that he was more unaware in what the lives of his loyal subjects entailed than he thought.

Alpha shook his head, eyes focused on keeping watch. "I take no offense, your Highness."

The prince rolled his eyes again. "It's Chase."

Alpha was silent for a moment as he turned his head, eyes unblinking. "I know that, your Highness."

"Then you ought to call me by my given name. I have an entire kingdom to call me _your Highness,_ " Chase gesticulated with a swift move of his hand for emphasis, head propped on his other palm. Jinja's taunting words from earlier sounded in his mind, for whatever reason. "Trust me, it gets boring after a while."

Alpha remained quiet, eyes searching Chase' face for something. Chase silently took note of how bright Alpha's eyes appeared in the stark contrast of his red hair. Chase pretended to be taken by the sight of the sky and the market below, licking his lips for reasons unrelated to the taste of sweets still lingering on his tongue.

"Your Highness, may I ask why you're here?"

"Again, it's _Chase_ ," the prince huffed, eyebrows scrunched. "And I told you, I'm here because I wanted to keep you company. Also, it's kind of my castle too, so…"

"Of course, I didn't mean to be rude," Alpha's voice faltered slightly as he scratched his neck. "I was just trying to figure out why a prince such as yourself would want to be in the presence of someone like . . . _me_. I'm not really …someone of importance to you."

Chase turned his head to look at Alpha with a surprised look on his face, slowly overtaken by a feeling of realization. Here he was, casually eating his feelings away with someone who clearly wasn't enjoying his company. Chase ran a hand through his dark hair, feeling slight remorse. He was really on a roll today.

"Look," Chase said. "In all honesty, I've never been fond of social statuses, etiquette or just most things in general that naturally follows the title of a prince. It's kind of why I'm grounded right now."

" _Grounded?_ " Alpha repeated incrediously.

" _But back to the point_ ," Chase said quickly, a most flawless transition back to his main point. "It may come off as a strange concept to you, but I truly do enjoy your company. You're a nice guy and hardworking, by the looks of it," he grinned. Chase gestured to himself with a flourish only a prince could muster. "I mean, here I am, in all my majestic glory and you still manage to keep a lookout for danger regardless. That's very exceptional."

"I do try," Alpha replied dryly. He cleared his throat immediately afterwards, his shoulders less tense. "But…thank you ever so kindly."

"Don't mention it," Chase said, standing up to his full height. He dusted crumbs off his royal garments and stretched his arms before him before going to scoop the half-empty tray of treats. "Well, Mr. Alpha, it appears I must take my leave before my mother finds out I've been sneaking around the castle without her knowing. Take care!"

Alpha nodded as he cautiously watched Chase ascend the staircase back to his balcony. Quickly, he blurted; "you too, Chase."

Chase stopped mid-step on the staircase and looked back, stunned but quickly recovered to throw a wink back at Alpha. "See you around, _Sir Knight_."

Chase ascended the last few steps up to the balcony of his room, perhaps a little faster than intended, hoping Alpha hadn't noticed. Upon entering his room, he saw no signs of any servants having entered his room while he had been conversing downstairs. He sighed in relief, putting the tray on his table stand while he sat on his bed, contemplating.

 _You too, Chase._

Chase felt his cheeks grow warmer as he recalled Alpha's sudden utterance of his name. It wasn't supposed to mean anything, heck, Chase had even _encouraged_ him to use his given name, so why did he feel so giddy all of a sudden?

Unable to conjure up any answer, Chase merely shook his head, smiling. "Mr. Alpha, you're something else."


End file.
